Over at Google I/O, the news about Android 4.1 - a.k.a. Jelly Bean, if you haven't heard - just broke.

Update: check out the Jelly Bean video:

The first announcement was Project Butter, a new processing framework for Android that should make it run much, much faster - up to 60fps, in fact. The CPU and graphics will now work together in harmony, with the latter being triple-buffered, meaning things like scrolling and transitions should be noticeably faster.

There's also going to be improved voice input, including support for offline voice-to-text, which should be exciting. Speaking of input, there's now going to be 18 more input languages, from Hebrew to improved Arabic support.

For blind users, there will also be improved accessibility, another requested feature.

Notably, the camera app has also been improved - users can now pinch to see the camera and gallery side-by-side, so you can swipe to the photo you just took.

Another improved feature is Android Beam, which will now allow you to share files between phones. You'll also be able to simply tap an NFC-capable speaker to pair with it - nice.

Android's already awesome notification system is also seeing an update, wherein your notifications for a certain app will be grouped together, and devs will be given more APIs. These APIs will allow users to control music apps from within the notification bar, and the notifications will expand or collapse upon your command. Sexy.

Google Search is also being improved, as we've been hearing about. There are now short "cards" with information about celebrities, weather, maps, etc. - so you will no longer have to dig through full Google results (though these will be available should you want them).

Another new feature is Google Now, which uses past actions for which you've used your phone to figure out useful things like faster routes home, bus / train schedules, restaurant menus, flight info, and sport scores. You can access all this from the search box or by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

Jelly Bean will start rolling out to the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and Motorola XOOM mid-July, but the SDK is available today. If you're not drooling yet, there's something wrong with you.

Jaroslav Stekl is a tech enthusiast whose favorite gadgets almost always happen to be the latest Android devices. When he's not writing for Android Police, he's probably hiking, camping, or canoeing. He is also an aspiring coffee aficionado and an avid moviegoer.

They haven't just one-upped Apple this time. It is much closer to 300-upped.

bjn714

They haven't just one-upped Apple this time. It is much closer to 300-upped.

Alan

Agreed, iOS has over 200 new features, the biggest of which is Facebook integration, wtf!!!

Android only needs a few by comparison to keep it relevant.

adi19956

No there will be over 200, there'll be tons, but Google don't need to tell you that. They group them into things like Project Butter when Apple would shout about each change individually

AppleFUD

There is a lot that Google has done and only briefly discussed them. If they did it like apple we would be watching a 12 hour keynote just on the major features in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. . . heck, apple would have had a special announcement just for their version of Google Now and spend at least a couple hours on it however, it would only be available to the latest device lol

adi19956

Proving that iOS does in fact have fragmentation

Alan

Agreed, iOS has over 200 new features, the biggest of which is Facebook integration, wtf!!!

Android only needs a few by comparison to keep it relevant.

tbealmear

I just hope that the PDK they announced will allow hardware manufacturers release OS's faster to the public. These new OS's dont do us much good if it takes half a year to get to us.

AppleFUD

support the Nexus line and OEMs will get the clue. right now people apparently don't care because they are not supporting the Nexus line.

Bariman43

How can you do that though when we have Galaxy SIIIs and HTC One Xs being released, both with much better specs than any Nexus phone out right now?

http://firasr.myopenid.com/ Firas

Don't forget the fact the Nexus isn't available to us International customers.

tbealmear

I just hope that the PDK they announced will allow hardware manufacturers release OS's faster to the public. These new OS's dont do us much good if it takes half a year to get to us.

Marc Edwards

i wanna know how long till the source code is released...
cm9?! =)

adi19956

CM10 it'll be

Arsalan Afzal

They don't even have a stable cm9 yet, lol

Marc Edwards

maybe not, but i've been running nightlies for ages, almost all the bugs have been sorted out on my sensation.

Marc Edwards

i wanna know how long till the source code is released...
cm9?! =)

Marc Edwards

i wanna know how long till the source code is released...
cm9?! =)

Glenn

Woohoo love for the Nexus S!!!!

Glenn

Woohoo love for the Nexus S!!!!

Glenn

Woohoo love for the Nexus S!!!!

http://brgulker.wordpress.com/ brgulker

nom nom

http://brgulker.wordpress.com/ brgulker

nom nom

http://brgulker.wordpress.com/ brgulker

nom nom

Tyler Chappell

I really hope that when my Thunderbolt gets the ICS update, I will easily be able to bump it up to Jelly Bean with some ROMs

Tyler Chappell

I really hope that when my Thunderbolt gets the ICS update, I will easily be able to bump it up to Jelly Bean with some ROMs

Tyler Chappell

I really hope that when my Thunderbolt gets the ICS update, I will easily be able to bump it up to Jelly Bean with some ROMs

UmangKedia

"If you're not drooling yet, there's something wrong with you." Oh. Why should I drool? Am still waiting for ICS and they are talking about Jelly Bean.

http://www.thepixelpuse.com/ Aj Meadows

Should've got a Nexus.

http://profiles.google.com/bt1138 Bill T

how's that for timing on these 2 posts...

http://phrasemongers.wordpress.com/ Aaron Andersen

I've got a Nexus, and I JUST got ICS about three weeks ago...

Well, I've got a Verizon Galaxy Nexus, which is kind of a fake Nexus. You certainly don't get what was promised with the "Nexus" label.

http://www.thepixelpuse.com/ Aj Meadows

Wait... You're Galaxy Nexus just got ICS three weeks ago? That's not possible (Galaxy Nexus comes with ICS out of box). Also, I don't know what's going on with your Verizon Galaxy Nexus, but my Sprint variant is already running 4.0.4. Even in the worst case scenario, a Nexus device will still get Android OTAs months ahead of every other device. I think the Nexus label still means something.

http://phrasemongers.wordpress.com/ Aaron Andersen

Sorry, I wrote that too fast and didn't proofread. I meant I just got 4.0.4 a few weeks ago, after reading for months that it was just about to be sent OTA. Never got 4.0.3.

http://www.thepixelpuse.com/ Aj Meadows

Ahhh, got ya.

http://profiles.google.com/bt1138 Bill T

Not to gloat too much, but I'm still very happy to have chosen the Nexus S -- Not the shiniest kid on the block, but it's getting decent love on the update front.

Somenothingness

Oh despair not...I had the GNex for 6 months and no updates. Moto Razr Maxx with 2x the battery life...or more...FTW. And still...just cause it begins a rollout from Google in July means nothing...there's still VZW to deal with before it gets to some of us.

UmangKedia

"If you're not drooling yet, there's something wrong with you." Oh. Why should I drool? Am still waiting for ICS and they are talking about Jelly Bean.

UmangKedia

"If you're not drooling yet, there's something wrong with you." Oh. Why should I drool? Am still waiting for ICS and they are talking about Jelly Bean.

Man am I jumping on my seat! I want JB now! I wanna see the new framework in action. Hopefully one of the lucky attendees will post a video preview of JB on his free GNex, Nex7 and NexQ for all of us unlucky ones to see. :(

Man did Google pull it off big time! Well done Google... now loving my faulty GNex even more... :P

hldc1

A-ma-zing! Google doing some magic once again. They're doing everything they can to make sure I continue to only buy Nexus devices in the future, and I'm okay with that!

AppleFUD

so true. . . anyone in the "know" should know by now that Nexus is the only way to go!

Mike

When they mentioned the Nexus S receiving Jelly Bean, does that include the Sprint Nexus S 4G also?

Matthew Smith

Stupidly small detail, but the blown up contact icon in JB looks way better than the ICS version.